Andrew Taylor
Andrew Colin Douglas Taylor ('''b. 12 May 1964, Sergiocitta ) is a Georgeland politician currently serving as the country's Minister for Foreign Affairs. A member of the Georgeland Alliance, he has been a Senator for Bradmarch since 2012, with a brief break in 2018 when he resigned to (unsuccessfully) contest the Bradmarch state election. Early life Taylor was born '''Andrew Brennan in Sergiocitta in 1964, the youngest of four children. His father, Peter Brennan, died in a car accident when Taylor was only six months old. His mother, Susan, remarried in 1969 to John Taylor and the family took his name. John Taylor was murdered by serial killer Jerry Tinley in 1975. Taylor was educated at St. Joseph's High School and Port Andrews High School, and attended Sergiocitta Technical College where he studied medical engineering. Taylor wanted to become a doctor, but ultimately he became a medical technician and paramedic. He was President of the Bradmarch Union of Technical Employees from 1989 to 1994. From 1993, Taylor was a full-time trade union official. Political career In the 1990s, Taylor was a member of the Labour Party and sat on its state executive. He resigned his Labour membership in 1999 when the party split over the sudden removal of Campbell Rhodes from the leadership. Taylor later reflected on his decision, commenting that while he was not then, and is still not, a Rhodes supporter, he believed the part had a toxic culture of infighting and backstabbing, and wanted no part of it. He remained active in the union but declined to join Rhodes' new Liberal Party when it launched. In 2000, Taylor was elected to the Sergiocitta City Council as an Independent. He joined the Georgeland Alliance to run for a second term in 2004, and was elected. In 2006, he was appointed Deputy Mayor by Mayor Frank Giotto, an independent, as part of a political deal to secure Alliance votes on the council. In 2010, Taylor ran for the mayoralty himself for the Alliance, but was narrowly defeated by the Conservative candidate, John Lee. On the death of Alliance senator Terry Billings in 2012, Taylor was selected as his replacement to fill the casual vacancy. Taylor was sworn in as a Senator on August 30, although his official date of appointment is the 19th, when he was confirmed by the Governor of Bradmarch. Taylor served on the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Health Senate committees, as well as the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters and the Joint Standing Committee on the Parliamentary Precinct . At the 2013 election, Taylor was elected at the head of the Alliance ticket in Bradmarch for another six-year term, beginning on 1 January 2014. After the election, he was appointed as the Alliance's spokesperson on trade, a position he retained until 2017. When the New Coalition was formed between the Alliance and Reform in 2017, Taylor was appointed the New Coalition's spokesman on Foreign Affairs. Bradmarch election In the lead-up to the state election in Bradmarch, and with the New Coalition surging in national and state polls, the Alliance announced on June 18 that Taylor would head their campaign and ticket in Bradmarch, alongside Reform's Michael Bridger, also a federal parliamentarian. Taylor resigned from the Senate on 6 July in order to contest the election, at which he was selected as the candidate for the seat of North-West Coast. At the election, the Alliance won eight seats and Reform nine; the high Alliance vote in rural seats meant they did not elect anyone from their party list, including incumbent leader Frank Bowman. On 12 September, the new state legislature, with a New Coalition majority, met and re-appointed Taylor to the Senate to fill the vacancy caused by his own resignation. He resumed sitting in the Senate on October 2 and was immediately re-appointed to his position as Foreign Affairs spokesman. Foreign minister The New Coalition was elected to office for the first time at the 2019 federal election, in which the New Coalition won a majority of a single seat. Taylor was appointed as Minister for Foreign Affairs in the new government, led by Tom Elderton. In September 2019, Taylor along with Elderton and Environment Minister Florence Roberts attended the UN Climate Summit in New York. On the same visit, Taylor met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Taylor was criticised, along with Elderton, for meeting with Trump Administration officials. Georgeland's own President, Campbell Rhodes, has refused to meet any Trump officials or the president himself. Personal life Taylor married Julia Connolly in 1995, whom he met at a union function. They have three children together. The couple separated in 2015, and are now divorced. Category:Georgeland Category:Georgeland politicians